Electricity residential retail choice participation has declined since 2014 peak

In states with residential retail choice programs, customers can elect to purchase their electricity directly from their choice of energy suppliers, with the electricity delivered to them by their local utility. The number of customers participating in retail choice programs peaked at 17.2 million customers (13% of total residential customers) in 2014 and has since declined, reaching 16.2 million customers (12% of the national total) in 2016 and 16.7 million customers (13% of the national total) in 2017. More »

Space heating and water heating account for nearly two thirds of U.S. home energy use

Space heating and water heating were the top two energy-consuming uses in U.S. homes in 2015, according to EIA’s latest Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Space heating consumption can vary considerably by climate and building characteristics, while variation in water heating consumption is driven primarily by the number of occupants in a home. Households use a variety of fuels for space heating and water heating, which affects these end-use shares of household energy expenditures. More »

Winter begins with higher U.S. heating oil and propane prices

U.S. residential heating oil and propane prices at the start of the 2018–2019 winter heating season were 23% and 4% higher, respectively, than at the start of the last heating season. During the winter months (October–March), EIA conducts weekly surveys of residential heating oil and propane prices for many states through the State Heating Oil and Propane Program (SHOPP). More »

Midwest propane inventories enter winter higher than previous five-year average

Propane inventories in the Midwest United States had been lower than the previous five-year average for much of 2018, but in recent weeks, net additions to inventories increased Midwest propane to levels higher than the previous five-year average. For the week ending October 19, propane inventories in the Midwest, or Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) 2, were 27.8 million barrels, or 792,000 barrels higher than the previous five-year average. More »

Consolidated Edison gets approval for natural gas demand response pilot program

In August 2018, the New York Public Service Commission approved a petition by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison) for a $5 million, three-year natural gas demand response pilot program, one of the first demand response projects for natural gas. More »

U.S. monthly crude oil production exceeds 11 million barrels per day in August

U.S. crude oil production reached 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in August 2018, according to EIA’s latest Petroleum Supply Monthly, up from 10.9 million b/d in July. This is the first time that monthly U.S. production levels surpassed 11 million b/d. U.S. crude oil production exceeded the Russian Ministry of Energy’s estimated August production of 11.2 million b/d, making the United States the leading crude oil producer in the world. More »